For Wilshire Baptist Church
On Ash Wednesday we finished gathering and compiling our tax data and made an appointment with our accountant. As freelancers and contractors, we have lots of little payments and expenses to compile and document, and a big part of that process is going back through our calendars to connect receipts with appointments, trips, purchases, whatever.
It’s a taxing exercise but it’s also interesting to go back through the year and recall what took place: the trip to Yellowstone and the fall Saturdays in Waco; the routine doctor appointments and the unexpected fixes; the sunny weddings and gloomy funerals. On top of it all is a feeling of amazement at how fast and full the year really was, and how grateful we are that God was always there with us.
This annual accounting is nothing compared to that week in 2011 before I married and moved in with LeAnn, when I sorted through 25 years of documents that held remembrances of the highs and lows of my young adulthood. Those recollections brought gasps, chuckles, tears of joy, shudders of embarrassment and regret. Along the way I filled up several large trash bags and literally wore out a shredder turning the past into confetti.
During this season of Lent there often is an emphasis on fasting or giving up luxuries or conveniences and spending time in prayer and reflection as Jesus did for 40 days in the desert. It’s a good practice although it can seem petty and insignificant, especially if our sacrifice is giving up chocolate or video games. But what about giving up something that is holding you back from being who God created you to be? What about giving up relics and memories of events that are holding you down and holding you back? It might be events so spectacular that you’re stuck in a belief that nothing can ever be that special again. Or moments so catastrophic that you’ve given in to fear and given up on living. What about handing those events over to God and saying, “I’m ready to move forward.”
During tax time this year I ended up with small stacks of sorted papers all around the floor of my office. I filled a waste basket with most of it, and now I need to file what remains, but my file cabinet is already full. So now I need to clear the clutter from the file cabinet. That includes documents I couldn’t let go of 2011, especially work samples that I kept to compile portfolios for job interviews. But I’ll never interview again, and everything is digital now.
It’s time to clear out yesterday and make room for tomorrow, thanking God for the opportunities I’ve had and those still to come.